


the same stars

by chesamu



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-31 01:22:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10888878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chesamu/pseuds/chesamu
Summary: the beauty of this messis that it brings me close to you-broods





	the same stars

Keith has always been a morning person.

But this moon's suns have yet to even brush the horizon when he finds his eyes flitting open, and any sense of tiredness slipping away from him after merely an hour or so of sleep.

It’s strange. 

But he's always had trouble sleeping through the night.

He turns over on his mattress. His thin cover twisting around his legs.

Maybe. Another nightmare had woken him up.

He tries to close his eyes and slip back into sleep. But can't seem to keep them shut.

He's wide awake now. And yesterday, he hadn't slept at all.

He'd gotten out of bed and taken a walk, right around this same time that morning. Having struggled immensely to let go of his thoughts and fall asleep that night, he'd stayed up mulling over the ghost-like memories instead. He had to eventually give in to his restlessness, and ended up in the control room. Walking right up to the castle’s star-map.

All on some sort of whim.

He’d just been thinking so much about his mother.

Never had he been this close to her before.

What if.

What if she were alive?

What if she could be found, using all of the Castle's fancy equipment.

There had to be something in the Castle's extensive and ever expanding archives about his mother. Some sign. Some clue. Some coordinates to another Blade of Mamora base.

Anything.

By the time his senses had come back to him, he'd already hit a fist against the dormant control panel.

Where would he even start to look for such things? And how would he know when he found what he was looking for?

He couldn’t even open the damn star map. And so, he'd turned on his way back to bed.

Maybe when the suns rose he'd ask Coran. Or ... if she wasn't busy ... he'd ask — and that’s when Allura had walked in yesterday.

She'd been yawning prettily against her fingers and pulling a ribbon from her hair as she entered. And she had stopped in her tracks when she saw him. Allura had looked at Keith as her hair fell over her shoulders, like petals of desert flowers. Falling in the wind.

Keith had merely looked back at her, feeling the need suddenly to explain why he was there. He hadn't even thought to ask Allura why she was up so late. He never really thought to question her about anything. "Princess," he'd whispered. He didn't know why he'd whispered. "I … I was just. Turning in."

Allura had only observed him for a moment — his tired face, his clenched fists, and sparkling eyes pooling with exhaustion. Yesterday morning, Allura had asked Keith so gently if 'he was alright' ... that he just ... told her.

He can't believe he'd told her.

And after a fleck of concern had glittered across her eyes, the Princess had simply walked past him, lightly touching his wrist with her fingers, and gesturing for him to follow.

He'd been able to see she hadn’t been able to sleep either, judging by the pinkish tint to her eyes.

Then she'd asked him to sit beside her.

And watch the stars for a while.

"Do not fret." A look must have crossed his face. "I don’t wish to interrogate you," Allura had teased him. She'd settled down on the floor and hugged her knees close.

And she'd left it at that, haven gotten to know Keith well enough to know when not to pry.

Keith sharing with her literally anything about himself willingly ... that had always enough to satisfy her for a while.

Now she'd asked for his company.

And there was nothing he would deny her.

So yesterday, Keith had sat down next to Allura.

Allura then confessed to watching the stars every night she couldn’t sleep, ever since losing the solace of Blossom Canyon, and all of her father's memories.

But that was yesterday.

And though Keith can’t stop thinking about that now, it almost feels like it never happened at all.

Like it was all some mundane sort of dream.

Because as the the day went by, everything had been business as usual. Allura didn't spare him even a glance more than she had to.

Keith stares at the soft neon glow fanning across the ceiling of his room.

He sits up.

He stares at the floor.

And then, he stares at the walls.

Next thing he knows, he is in his slippers.

And he's walking out of his room.

And down the corridor.

Keith is not even sure why he's out here. What's gotten him so restless and hopeful tonight.

All he knows is that if he doesn’t check to see if she's in there ... he'll never be able to fall asleep.

So Keith hits the control panel on the wall lightly with his fist.

The doors slide open.

And Allura turns to look at him. Smiling, and sitting the way she had been. Just like yesterday.

All curled up in her night gown. And hugging her knees.

"I had been wondering when you would join me," she jokes.

Keith walks up beside her and sits on the floor, one hand quickly combing through the bed-hair he realizes he's probably sporting horrendously right now.

"Oh yeah?" he says. Not sure what else to say.

Allura hums a laugh. "No ... I am only joking."

When Keith looks at her, she looks away.

"Well. Half joking," she admits. Her eyes fall to the floor, and then look back out the large glass viewport. "So. What nightmares have you up lovely night?"

She asks the question so sincerely, it makes Keith smirk. Like it's a normal question to ask.

"No nightmares." He shrugs. "Just. Couldn’t sleep."

Allura's lashes fall a bit. "Same," she says. "I believe I know just what you mean."

There’s a hint of a quiver at the edge of her voice. Her fingers reach for loose tendrils of her hair, shimmering silver in the starlight. The rest of her hair is collected in a long braid. It falls over her shoulders, unwinding a bit and falling apart.

She twirls loose strands around her finger, absentmindedly.

"I am too tired to sleep," she adds finally.

Keith just looks out the viewport. Each star in the cosmos before them the center of an entire solar system of their own. Each system a host of planets. Each planet a homeworld to billions of lifeforms.

And each homeworld ... in need of their rescue.

Every one of them needing to be saved.

Keith thinks about their task all the time — as saving the whole damn Universe is no small one.

But Keith knows exactly what Allura means.

There is just too much going on right now. And he's also too tired to sleep.

Still, he waits for Allura to keep talking. To carry on some long winded conversation all on her own, that he's simply glad to hear.

They sit in a comfortable silence for a while. Allura seems to have decided she doesn't feel up for talking at him tonight, but Keith wants to hear her say more things. Things that make the greater chaotic universe out there make more sense. Things he can understand because they're not complex, but are still profound. Things he's felt but are too difficult for him to put into words himself. Things about destiny and belonging. About being meant to be here. In this place. And now.

He thinks maybe if he starts, she'll pick up and start running her mouth again, as she tends to do when they’re alone. He doesn't know if she's like that with everyone. But he likes to believe she's just comfortable with him. Usually chatter irritates his senses. But Keith never minds the sound of Allura's voice. She likes to talk. He likes to listen.

He doesn’t think there is much he could tell someone like Allura anyway.

He clears his throat. "This uh. View. It kinda reminds me of where I grew up ... I used to watch the sky all the time back on earth."

Allura looks at him again, her eyes sparkling with interest. "Mmm ... I suppose such a joy is universal."

Keith nods. "Yeah. I guess it is."

Still nothing.

"I just like … how big everything is. Out there. Feels good to know you’re a part of something bigger than you. And that you’re not alone. Looking at it all."

Allura smiles at him, now tending to her braid with both hands. "And everything is connected."

Keith looks at her, always relieved when she understands. How she always manages to make sense out of everything, no matter the chaos, no matter how poorly put together the words. He’s glad she doesn’t look away this time.

"Yeah," Keith agrees. He knows he's said those very words before. Even if she'd only laughed at the time.

Allura nods and turns back to the viewport. "I like that as well. I used to gaze up the skies from my favorite blossom fields on Altea. The view was always perfect there. There was a cliffs edge where the sky seemed to dip below you." Her fingers curl tight. "If only I could see my favorite constellations even still. For memory's sake. But they are all much too far away."

Keith looks again out of the viewport. And nn endless ocean of cosmos moons and starlight looks back.

Then he looks at Allura.

"The stars or their constellations?" he asks her.

"What?”

Keith stands. And he steps closer to the viewport. "As a kid I learned how to find my way by the stars," he says. Allura walks up next to him. "But I dunno. I always wondered what would happen of I’d been on the wrong side of them or something. How would they all look then, you know? The view would be so different. But it’d also be really nice. Not the same. But they'd still be the same stars."

Allura looks up. Her small fist loosening slightly beneath her chin.

"The same stars,” she repeats, staring for a long moment out into space. Then a hint of a smile glows upon her face. "It is simply a new perspective." She touches the glass with the fingers splayed out in enchantment. "I guess. Essentially. These are the same stars that I used to look at from my home." Tears burn at her eyes, but she doesn't dare start crying over this. "They’re a bit turned around, but they are still there. And in proper place. They are still there."

"They are, Allura."

After a long teary look, she turns to Keith again.

And he is already looking back at her.

Allura laughs a bit, ducking her eyes. "You always insist on going against my perspective. Somehow ... now I’ve learned to cherish your thinking. I cannot believe how fond I've grown of you." She nudges his side.

Keith smirks. "Maybe that’s why fate brought me here."

Allura rolls her eyes a bit. "Oh yes. I'm sure."

"Fate also brought us these constellations. At least. This side of them."

"I suppose." Allura shrugs minutely. "But I wouldn't quite say you're comparable to this view." She hazards a glance at him.

Keith tries to guess what she means before asking her. "Why's that?"

Allura hugs herself with both arms now. "Well? It is rather difficult to compete with a sky full of stars, Keith,” she expounds. She dips her chin a bit as she looks at him.

Keith raises a brow. "Well." He thinks. "I can change?" He tussles up his hair. Shakes his head around a bit. When he stops, it’s sticking out in more directions than it was before, and falling completely over his eyes. "How's this?" He looks down his nose at Allura.

Allura tries not to smile. But then she laughs. Raising her fingers to her chin. She shakes her head again. "You seem to have only worsened your situation? Here. Let me." She gestures for Keith to lean towards her. And he does.

Then carefully, as if handling a crystal or gladd, Allura brushes her fingers against his hair.

Keith shuts his eyes as Allura gently combs her small hands through, parting his mess of dark black silk a bit to the side and back over his ears. She carefully pushes his bangs out of his face, and pauses for a moment.

Keith’s dark eyes open. At first one and then both. They twinkle at her beneath his heavy set of brows.

"Better?" he asks, whispering again.

Allura pulls back her hand. His hair falls back in his eyes. "You look. Different with all of your hair out of your face."

Keith doesn't know what to make of her observation. If that is a good thing or a bad thing. The memory of Allura insulting Lance’s ears and pinning Lance to the floor flashes suddenly across his mind. But he might not mind so much if she ever tried to do that to him. He might just let her pin him down. "Is that ... alright?"

Allura smiles a bit, lowers her lashes. "Yes." She laughs softly. "I meant that you look rather handsome." Her voice is as quiet as his.

Keith smirks again. "Handsome enough to compete with the stars?"

Allura turns up her nose a bit. "I did not say all that," she retorts, her attention drawn again to the night sky. "I do not believe there is any beauty comparable to the night sky."

Keith brushes the hair out of his face and catches the way Allura’s crystal-like irises flicker and shimmer in the star light.

He might beg to differ. But he likes being in agreement with her tonight.

He clears his throat. "Maybe I'm just destined to be an observer, Lu."

He's still looking at her. So Allura looks back at him. "Aren’t we all." After a beat, he half smiles at her.

Then a castle alarms starts to blare.

And in no less than a second, Keith and Allura are refocused. What ever spell they had cast on one another begins to shatter. Breaking like glass, their eyes jump off of each other and onto the warning signals popping up across the walls and ceiling of the control room.

They share one more glance.

And then Allura quickly makes her way over to the castle’s control panel.

She opens up a holo-window with a single swipe of her hand.

Keith follows, and he tries to read the warning symbols flickering on the screen. He still can only barely recognize the Altean language.

"What is it?" he asks, his voice suddenly a few octaves lower. And much louder.

No use it keeping quiet now.

Allura’s face seems to have stoned, the sharp glimmer in her eyes completely unlike the soft glow they held just mere seconds ago. "We have been located. An enemy fighter has locked on to our path, and is preparing to aim a tractor beam." She is already readying the defenses. Rolling up her pajama sleeves to her elbows.

"Okay." Keith says, feeling for his bayard. "Wait. The castle can pick that up? How do the Galra keep finding us?"

"I do not know," Allura says, her tiny fingers moving like lightning across the holographic keys. "And yes. Slav applied the modification just quintants ago." She flips some loose tendrils of hair from her face. "Listen, I will sound the wake up alarm from here. But Keith, I am going to need you to suit up. And if you run into the others by the barracks, give them my order to suit up as well."

"On it, Princess." Keith replies, without even a moment’s hesitation.

And soon he's out the doors.

Whatever moment Allura had shared with him only minutes ago is entirely forgotten. Or at least, pushed far out of mind.

Keith and Allura are soldiers. There is a war to be won. A fight to finish. Homeworlds to be saved.

They may be too tired to sleep. But they will never be too distracted to fight.

A battle against tyranny needs their hearts undivided. And it has them. They're committed to this.

Entirely. 

And completely.

Keith stops to think about Allura's fingers in his hair as he dons his helmet.

Allura considers the look in Keith's eyes calculations sparkle on her controls.

Aren't they?

They know there isn’t time for anything else. Whatever anything else could be.

Every system they see out of the viewport is depending on them.

Yes. They are.

It is their destiny.


End file.
